There is no such thing as the Christian life made easy.  Accessible, doable and successful yes, but easy, I don't think so.  Although Scripture teaches that the way of the transgressor is hard (Proverbs. 13:15), it goes on to say in other places that the Christian life is to be compared to a race (Hebrews 12:1), a fight (1 Timothy. 6:12), and a wrestling match (Ephesians. 6:12).  It tells stories of the faithful who were persecuted and gave their lives along the way.  In Scripture we read of winners and of losers.  Our Savior even warned us that inasmuch as He had suffered while He was here we could expect the same (John 15:20).  It is important that we understand this because so much of how we relate to something depends on our expectations.  If our assumptions as to how something is suppose to be are not a reflection of reality we can easily become discouraged and may even be tempted to give up.

Our expectations of what the Christian life is suppose to be about must be based on reality, but this reality must be founded on God's design. What this means is we must resist the temptation to create expectations which are based on a standard that we invent for ourselves.

Real life experience has shown us that though the gospel may be simple it is not easy to implement.  As I have thought about it, I have come to the conclusion that, although the gospel is easy, error is definitely difficult and confusing.  The problems that many seem to be having in the implementation of the gospel in their lives is to the extent that they have unreal expectations and/or misinformation.  Once error is stripped away and we see things the way they were meant to be we will be more effective in running the race that is set before us and press on toward the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14).

If the Christian life is to be successful in the sense that it represents Gods' will, it must not be something we do a la carte.  Although the Christian life has many components, it is really only one whole.  An attempt to implement one part and knowingly omit another will ultimately result in frustration and uneven growth.

When my son and wife moved they decided they needed more furniture.  I don't remember exactly what it was they bought, but I do remember he asked me if furniture had always come disassembled the way so much of it does now.  I told him I didn't think so but that if he would follow the directions he would have no trouble putting the pieces together.  There is usually a picture on the box of what the piece will finally look like, and step-by-step assembly instructions are inside.  Without the picture and the instructions a person might eventually figure it all out but I would hate to see the creative variations that might occur.

In order to know where all the pieces fit in the Christian life a person needs to have the big picture of what it is suppose to look like as they go along and finally when they have it all together.  This book is about what to expect the Christian life to look like. When we each have our own idea of what the Christian life is supposed to look like, two things can happen.  One is that our concept becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, and the other is it may not seem to work the way we thought it would.

We don't need to worry, however.  It is not necessary or advisable to play the Christian life by ear and see what comes out, neither is it necessary to go through life convinced we have been a factory reject.  There is hope, but there are some definite assembly instructions that must be followed.

If you are a carpenter, or at least have had a measuring tape and saw in your hands, you have no doubt had the experience I am about to describe.  Let's suppose that for some reason there is a task in the workshop requiring that you have eight pieces of wood, all of the same length.  They must each be eleven and three-quarters inches in length.  So you take the tape and measure eleven and three-quarters inches on the board.  You find a straight edge and cut the first piece.  It suddenly occurs to you that you don't have to measure the other seven pieces, you will use the one you cut as a template.  So you cut the second piece.  Then it is time to cut the third piece.  You are about to use the second piece as a template to cut the third.  Wait!  Stop!  Don't do it.  You know what will happen, don't you?  If you use the last cut piece to cut the next, by the time you have your eight pieces they will definitely not all measure eleven and three-quarters inches

It works the same way in the Christian life.  When everyone is using their own measuring tape, pretty soon they begin to get all kinds of results.  This is why to avoid being frustrated in the Christian life we must start by using an objective measure, and you may already have guessed what that is.  The Bible is the measuring tape of the Christian life.  In Scripture we get the picture of how things are suppose to be.  When a person gets the big picture, the pieces that make up the everyday things of life will have a place to fit in.

Have you ever taken something apart and when you get it back together you discover you have parts left over?  On one occasion I changed the oil in my car's transmission, and when I got it all back together I had one little ball bearing left over.  Oh well, I thought, everything else fits just fine and the ball bearing was just a little one.  But when I started up the car for a test drive, you can guess what happened.

If the Christian life is going to work as it is supposed to, we need to have all the pieces in the right places.  I would not say that a person who is putting together the life in Christ must wait to begin until they have all the pieces together all at one time, but it is definitely necessary for optimum performance that the pieces that are in place are in the right place, and it is not advisable to purposely leave some pieces out.

In this book we are not going see how little we can make the pieces.  After all is said and done, it is the big picture that we are after, not the pieces (though we must not forget that the pieces make the picture).  We are going to come at it from what I will call a modular approach.  Though each module itself is comprised of many pieces, we won't try to make it difficult by taking the module apart, but we will try to simply show where each module fits in and how each one relates to the rest.  Later if you want to take each module apart, feel free to do so.  But I suspect we have been into that too much already.  This is probably why many people don't seem to ever get it all together and end up either settling for something less than the best or they become frustrated and come to the conclusion that in the here and now you just can't get there from here.

If our expectations are going to be correct, we must begin with the big picture of what the Christian life is about.  All the pieces must be a part of this picture.  There is one text that sets the parameters and gives an overview of how the Christian life is supposed to look.  I recognize that some people are not comfortable with establishing a doctrine with one Bible text, and neither am I.  But I don't think you will argue with this particular one.  We can say it a thousand ways with a thousand texts, but it couldn't be said better or clearer.

The text is found in Romans 8:29.  "Because whom He did foreknow, He also did predestine to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be first-born among many brethren." There we have it.  In plain language it is saying that the purpose of the Christian life is that we will be like Jesus.

It is fundamental to our success that we understand this, because if we have set out on a journey and are going one direction when God wants us to go another, needless to say we will have problems.  Knowing what God's plan is for our life will also cut out a lot of extraneous concerns we might otherwise have.  As long as we can see the picture on the box as in the case of buying a piece of furniture we can know how it is suppose to be.  Then as we follow the assembly directions we can continually refer to the picture to confirm that we are indeed on the right track.  This is why we must keep referring to the picture of Jesus as we are living the Christian life.

So that we will all be literally reading from the same page, it is important to understand that this book is based on the premise that God has provided a perfect salvation.  Therefore, it will focus on how we should relate to this salvation He has so graciously provided (Proverbs 23:26, Matthew 11:28-30).

An American evangelist was conducting meetings in Ethiopia.  His series of meetings were scheduled to last several weeks.  He had the titles of each lecture all made up.  Apparently they were the ones he used when he conducted meetings in the Western world.  One of the sermon titles was, "Is There a God?"  A local minister looked at the sermon titles and said to the evangelist, "You might as well leave that sermon out.  Whether or not there is a God is no issue is this country."

This book assumes that those who read it are coming from the perspective that they want the salvation God offers but at times they appreciate encouragement as to how each piece of the puzzle relates to the others and how they all fit together.

The chapters of this book are about real life.  As a minister I am sensitive to the fact that when we talk about the spiritual life we often speak another language.  If not another language, then we tend to use a vocabulary and frame of reference that may not be generally understood by the person in the street, or even for that matter in the pew.

A little boy was listening to a famous preacher.  The boy had looked forward to hearing this person and as he listened he knew that what he was hearing must be a wonderful sermon.  The trouble was it was over his head.  As he sat there frustrated, he was heard to mumble, "Put the cookies on the lower shelf, Pastor, put the cookies on the lower shelf!"

It is my prayer that this book will put the cookies on the lower shelf without cheapening them or breaking them.  If you have wanted your life in Christ to be more meaningful, or if there have been some pieces of the gospel that haven't seemed to always fit together, as you read you will be inspired and encouraged.  And when you have finished you will have been revitalized in the Lord and in a special way will continue to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

What it is Important to Know

1.           There is no such thing as the Christian life made easy.

2.           Misplaced expectations of what the Christian life is suppose to be can lead to frustration and discouragement.

3.           A successful Christian life comes when we can see the big picture.  The big picture of the Christian life is for me to be like Jesus.  Once we have this view we can learn where each of the pieces of the puzzle fits and how they relate to each other.

Personal Application

1.           What do you think it means to live the Christian life a la carte?  What will be the result.

2.           Do you think it is necessary to have all the pieces of the Christian life before you can begin to put the picture together?  Explain your answer.

Prayer